April-Nov fiscal deficit touches nearly 115% of FY19 target at Rs 7.17 trn

The government is widely expected to miss its fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP in the current financial year

The country's fiscal deficit touched 114.8 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 6.24 trillion at the end of November on account of lower revenue collections, showed government data Thursday.

The fiscal deficit, or gap between expenditure and revenue, stood at Rs 7.16 trillion during April-November of the current financial year, reflecting deterioration in public finances.

At the end of November 2017, the deficit was 112 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE).

The government has budgeted to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2018-19, from 3.53 per cent in the previous financial year.

According to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the total revenue receipts of the government totalled Rs 8.7 trillion or 50.4 per cent of BE in 2018-19 till November, compared with 53.1 per cent during the same period last year.

The government has budgeted to mop up Rs 17.25 trillion revenue during the current fiscal.

Tax revenue was 49.4 per cent of BE, compared with 57 per cent in the comparable period of the previous year.

According to the CGA data, the total expenditure of the government at November-end was Rs 16.13 trillion or 66.1 per cent of BE. The expenditure in terms of percentage of BE was higher in the year-ago period.